Selected by Sarah Broadhurst

A dark and atmospheric noir thriller from the award-winning author of A Quiet Belief in Angels. A thief steals from other thieves, hoping for the perfect crime as they aren't likely to go to the police. But the robbery goes disastrously wrong and a young girl is murdered. Now everyone is trying to hunt him down. This skillfully crafted thriller further builds on Ellory's excellent canon of work.

Win a Family Break to Salisbury!

Don’t miss out! Enter to win a family break to Salisbury!

Here at Lovereading.co.uk and Lovereading4kids.co.uk we have joined with VisitWiltshire. You could see yourself indulging in the finest food and slumbering comfortably into one of the grand rooms at The Red Lion Salisbury for two nights. The Red Lion Hotel is located in medieval city of Salisbury, which is home to all your favourite stores as well as independent shops, restaurants, cafes and parks and green spaces. Nearby is Stonehenge, Salisbury Plain and numerous sites of historic and archaeological interest.

There are many seasonal events in Salisbury, and you can find out what’s on here. You will also receive a family ticket to Sir Harold Hillier Gardens, the gardens are especially beautiful in the winter, with bold coloured stems, scents, and fabulous foliage, you can be sure to be impressed. For the children there is also a play park, and you can stop off in the Victorian tea room to warm up and treat yourself to a traditional cream tea.

To have a chance of winning this fantastic prize, click the button below. Please note that this draw is open only for UK residents and is free to enter, multiple entries from the same email address will only be counted once. Entries close 31st January 2018.

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Terms and Conditions

Red Lion: Two night stay includes breakfast for two adults and up to two children sharing a family room. Subject to availability and cannot be exchanged or redeemed for cash value. Not to be used in combination with any other offer. Valid until 1st Dec 2018 and excludes bank holidays.

Sir Harold Hillier Gardens: Valid for day entry, Not to be used for special events or group entry. Voucher is not transferable or refundable, no Cash Value. Ticket must be redeemed on entry. Valid until 31 Dec 2018. Gardens open daily from 10am – closed Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Prize admits 2 adults and accompanying children Under 17 FREE to Sir Harold Hillier Gardens.

Synopsis

A Dark and Broken Heart by R. J. Ellory

It should have been easy for Vincent Madigan. Take four hundred thousand dollars away from some thieves, and who could they go to for help? No one at all. Madigan is charming, effective, and knows how to look after himself. The only problem is that he's up to his neck in debt to the drug kingpin of Harlem. This one heist will free Madigan and finally give him a chance to get his life back on track. But things go wrong when Madigan is forced to kill his co-conspirators and a child is shot in the crossfire. Now both sides of the law are hunting him down, and the cop assigned to lead the case is the very last person he could have expected ...

Reviews

Ellory's books are stand-alones - introducing us to a whole new set of characters and conflicts with each book. And it is to his credit that he always succeeds in rigidly maintaining our attention throughout his vast, sprawling narratives * GOOD BOOK GUIDE * R.J. Ellory has carved himself a place at the top of British crime fiction with his dark and obsessively driven detective novels... a gripping read * CATHOLIC HERALD * Gripping thriller * BIG ISSUE IN THE NORTH * As thrilling as a ride on the Coney Island Cyclone * MAIL ON SUNDAY * This thriller is written with so much power it pins you to your seat. I haven't read a better cop story since... well Ellory's own bestseller Saints of New York... A superbly riveting read * PETERBOROUGH EVENING TELEGRAPH * tough, poetic, streaming prose * CATHOLIC HERALD * R.J. Ellory has produced another fine novel to follow Bad Signs and is becoming as prolific as he is good. With A Dark and Broken Heart, his eleventh novel, the author has captured the very essence of what makes good men act badly and why bad men act as intrinsically as they do, and is certainly an addition to any crime fan's must read list this summer. * WE LOVE THIS BOOK * A pedal to the metal thriller * IRISH INDEPENDENT * As ever the writing is pungent and lacerating. This is a book that takes no prisoners and Ellory's continuing commercial success is assured. * DAILY EXPRESS * Classic noir, a journey to the dark corners of man's foolishness, where nothing is ever what it seems and no one can ever be trusted. Ellory is beginning to sound like the master [James Ellroy]. I can think of no higher praise. * DAILY MAIL *

About the Author

R.J. Ellory is a critically acclaimed author whose novels include the bestselling A Quiet Belief in Angels, which was a Richard & Judy Book Club selection and won the Nouvel Observateur Crime Fiction Prize. Ellory's novels have been translated into twenty-six languages, and he has won the USA Excellence Award for Best Mystery, the Strand Magazine Best Thriller 2009, the Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year for A Simple Act of Violence, the St Maur Prize, the Avignon Readers' Prize, the Livre de Poche Award and the Quebec Laureat. He has been shortlisted for a further thirteen awards in numerous countries, including four Daggers from the UK Crime Writers' Association. Despite the American setting of his novels, Ellory is British and currently lives in England with his wife and son.

He has also written books under the name Roger Jon Ellory, which can be viewed by clicking here.

In 2011 R. J. Ellory was shortlisted for the CWA Dagger in the Library, awarded to an author for a body of work.